The aminoglycosides are a group of bactericidal antibiotics derived from species of Streptomyces or Micromonosporum and characterized by two or more amino sugars joined by a glycoside linkage to a central hexose. Aminoglycosides act by causing misreading and inhibition of protein synthesis on bacterial ribosomes and are strongly effective against Gram-negative bacilli, Gram-positive bacilli, and tubercular bacilli. The administration of aminoglycoside antibiotics, however, sometimes poses serious side effects such as nephrotoxicity, ototoxicity, or neuromuscular blockade (Goodman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, Eighth Edition, Pergamon Press pp 1098-1116). Therefore, there is a strong need for compositions having all of the beneficial properties of aminoglycoside antibiotics, but with reduced side effects.
Higher plants are known to produce various antimicrobial agents, which may be identified as new drugs with novel chemical structures, and new mechanisms of action. These kinds of "natural" medicinal products are strongly desired by today's environmentally-aware consumers.